The present invention pertains to devices for disposing of spent beverage brewing substances from an automatic beverage brewing apparatus. More particularly, the present invention pertains to devices which receive a spent brewing material, containing waste liquids, from a beverage brewing apparatus and extract the waste liquid portion of the spent beverage brewing substance.
Automatic beverage brewing apparatus are commonly used in high volume applications such as restaurants, catering organizations and other high volume food production institutions. A typical automatic beverage brewing apparatus has a body which positions a funnel below a heated water source. The funnel contains a beverage brewing substance which is infused with heated water dispensed into the funnel to produce a brewed beverage. A brewed beverage is drained from the funnel into a serving decanter positioned underneath the funnel.
Such a beverage brewing apparatus requires that the beverage brewing substance be measured and deposited into the funnel for each batch of beverage produced. Additionally, this activity inherently requires the removal of the spent brewing substance after it has been infused with hot water and a brewed beverage produced therefrom. The need to fill the funnel with a beverage brewing substance and remove the spent substance from the funnel is labor intensive and prone to error due to mismeasurement or failure to remove the spent brewing substance from the funnel before producing another batch of brewed beverage.
Recently, automatic beverage brewing apparatus have been produced which substantially automate the beverage brewing process. Such an apparatus is shown in pending U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,925 to Bunn et al., issued Aug. 4, 1992. The apparatus shown in Bunn et al. includes an automatic brewing substance dispenser for dispensing a predetermined amount of beverage brewing substance into a brewing chamber. The brewing process is automated including automatically controlled brewing, dispensing, and chamber cleaning. After the brewing process is complete, the spent brewing substance is exhausted from the brewing chamber through a drain conduit into a spent beverage brewing substance basket.
A problem arises, however, in handling the spent brewing substance. The volume of the brewing substance and waste water requires frequent periodic removal and dumping. In other words, it would be desirable to accumulate the spent brewing substance from numerous brewing cycles in order to reduce the amount of manual labor required in servicing the brewing apparatus.
Another problem arises with the accumulation of spent brewing substance such that a large proportion of the waste product is waste water which is retained by the brewing substance itself during the brewing process. Additionally, it is common for brewing apparatus, such as the one shown in Bunn et al., to dispense waste water used to clean the brewing chamber into the common waste collection hopper. As such, a substantial quantity of water must be dealt with in disposing of the spent brewing substance. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a device which drains off the liquid portion of the spent beverage brewing substance leaving only the dried spent brewing substance. Additionally, it is desirable to remove the liquid component of the spent beverage brewing substance in order to prevent the moist mixture from harboring and developing malodorous bacteria and organisms.
One possible solution to the waste material problem is to simply drain the combined slurry of spent brewing substance and waste water down a common drain. This solution, however, may not be feasible in some areas which restrict the amount of material which can be flushed down a waste sewer along with waste liquids. Further, the plumbing requirements to flush substantial quantities of solid materials may not be available or may be cost prohibitive since they are substantially greater than those for merely draining water and other liquids.
Another problem that arises with the disposal of spent brewing substances is that these substances create a great deal of steam and moisture which, if allowed to travel into the brewing apparatus, may create many problems. For example, when spent brewing substances are disposed an open collection basket the steam rises off of the substance as the substance cools in the collection basket. Since such baskets are positioned at the bottom of the brewing apparatus, the steam rising off of the spent brewing substance rises through the apparatus. While the brewing chamber is designed to brew substances, it is difficult to protect the internal components of the brewing apparatus from the detrimental effects of the rising steam. In particular, when the brewing apparatus includes a brewing substance dispenser, the steam may have an extremely detrimental effect on the brewing substance retained in the substance dispenser. For example, if ground coffee is retained in the substance dispenser, the steam may cause the ground coffee to cake and therefore not be properly dispensed into the brewing chamber.
As such, it is desirable to provide a device for disposing of spent beverage brewing substances which can be associated with an automatic beverage brewing apparatus to receive and retain spent brewing substances and waste water and drain the liquid portion therefrom. Further, it is desirable to provide a device which prevents steam from the spent brewing substance from escaping.